Program or

Be Programmed

Douglas Rushkoff

Douglas Rushkoff

Writer, Media Theorist, Teacher

• Understand the biases of technology
• Making media more interactive
• Questioning impact of media on society

Transforming Technologies

• 1300 BC - humans developed text, changing everything about the world
• We got laws, the Torah, resulting in contracts and covenant with God
• Reading text could have been for everyone, but in reality only the elites could read
• Printing press
• Ability to mass produce text
• Writing and printing could have been for everyone, but in reality only the elites used it
• Masses learned to read, making them one step behind the elites
• Computers / Internet
• Ability to shape our reality
• Programming could be for everyone, but in reality only the elites (programmers) can do that
• Masses are again one step behind the elites, using computers to write tweets, facebook statuses and blogs

Will we remain one step behind the elites?

• A computer‘s capabilities are determined for us through software
• Can get more software to expand a computer’s capabilities
• What are the programs for? What is Facebook for?
• Helping me make friends?
• For Facebook to monetize my social network?
• We do not understand what the tools we are using have been made for
• If we learn to Program we can participate in the creation of our reality instead of just being in that reality

1. Time: Do not be “Always On”

• Asynchronous technology and adding it to our bodies in an always on fashion. Becomes pseudo-synchronous.
• Networked devices do not have a concept of time
• Provide the newest information, not the most relevant.
• We become dependent on the constant stream of information.
• We need to consciously choose when to interact with networked devices rather than let the device decide

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2. Place: Live in Person

• Digital world provides ability to interact with people who are not physically near us. Many benefits to this interaction.
• Authentic physical interaction cannot be reproduced digitally
• Things like facial expressions or eye contact are lost
• Learn to live in person. In person interaction should always be the first choice.

3. Choice: You May Always Choose None of the Above

• Computers provide choices that ostensibly provide a unique or customized user experience
• Questions force us into categories created by the programmer. We can choose “none of the above.”

4. Complexity: You are Never Completely Right

• Access to information is easier than ever before
• Access short summarized information or a set of facts related to our question
• Not a detailed understanding of complex issues
• Encourages us to think we understand the complex world much better than we actually do
• We also become dependent on these devices or sources for information

5. Scale: One Size Does Not Fit All

• The Internet and networked devices are biased towards scalability
• Businesses need to be able to scale thrive in that environment
• Small local businesses can’t scale in that way and maintain the dependence on personal relationships
• Businesses scale by creating abstractions (intangible things), which start to feel real. This leads us to become disconnected from the here and now.

6. Identity: Be Yourself

• Anonymity online can be dangerous when people become disconnected from the real-world consequences of their actions
• We should identify ourselves online as our true selves, like in real life, so we can hold ourselves accountable for our actions
• We are like people with Asperger's when online. We can’t read the cues of how people are reacting to what we are doing.

7. Social: Do Not Sell Your Friends

• The foundation of the Internet is based on social contact
• Today’s Internet has been compromised as there are many people and businesses are looking for opportunities for monetary gain, not social contact
• Don’t let companies monetize our social connections

8. Fact: Tell the Truth

• Facts are highly valued. Digital media allows us to (over time) compile facts together and filter out the myths.
• To successfully communicate, tell the truth
• Messages should be based on facts. Value is based on the strength of those facts.

9. Openness: Share, Don’t Steal

• Internet is about sharing and openness
• Has led to open-source projects like Linux or information sources like Wikipedia
• Sharing allows us to be more creative.
• Laws for copyrights and ownership are written for a closed, offline world
• Although the Internet is a different environment, we cannot dismiss laws and regulations
• Ethics divides sharing and stealing. Ideas in the Internet should not be stolen and then used for personal monetary gain.

10. Purpose: Program or Be Programmed

• If we don’t program we are at the mercy of the programs and the biases or agendas of the programmers
• Learning how to program will allow us to innovate and ensure technology meets our needs
• Tools have purpose. Need to know that purpose. Then can use it properly, or at least use it effectively.

Main Point: Learn to Program

• We have a window of opportunity before us: we must now seize the opportunity to learn how to program
• Can’t be a world of elites who program and everyone else who gets used or exploited by programs or programmers

Discussion Questions

• When is it inappropriate to be online?
• What are the effects of Internet-initiated oversimplification on politics or education?
• What is the monetization of friendships? How does it happen online?
• What is “Fair Use” of copyrighted material?
• Do you think the broader population will remain one step behind the elites? What will it take to keep up?